Lost Girl
by Gee Brittany
Summary: I had never thought myself deserving of the fate that I received. I was but five years old when I had been taken from my parents – not only that, but they were forced to forget that I'd ever existed; my parents as well as anyone who had met me, or even heard about me. I was but five years old when I re-wrote my future. I was going to kill my grandmother: Cora – The Queen of Hearts
1. Prologue

I had never thought myself deserving of the fate that I received. I was but five years old when I had been taken from my parents – not only that, but they were forced to forget that I'd ever existed; my parents as well as anyone who had met me, or even heard about me. Five years was all I had lived before I was wiped from existence.

Shortly after, my father was murdered by the very women I so detested. I was forced to watch through a looking glass as my grandmother ripped his beating heart from his chest and crushed it into dust while my mother pleaded for his life. I wish I could have seen her beg for my life like that.

I wasn't sure what I had done to deserve this punishment, but years later I discovered that it was simply for being. I hadn't been a part of my grandmother's plan, an unexpected plot twist if you will, and instead of killing me like she initially planned she decided to subject me to a fate worse than death: being forgotten.

I was but five years old when I re-wrote my future. I was going to kill my grandmother: Cora – The Queen of Hearts.


	2. Chapter One

_It all happened so fast. The second the pomegranate tart passed my mother's lips, the Vanishing Curse was enacted. One minute she was laughing and chatting animatedly to me, then suddenly, her eyes glazed over and a look of unawareness replaced her lovely smile._

"_Who are you?" She'd questioned. "How did you get into my home?"I didn't reply, I just grimaced as my heart fell into my stomach. I don't know how, but somehow I knew; knew that something terrible had just happened, and all of the sudden, I was all alone.  
"Come now, dear." A dark, sultry voice that I knew all too well had entered the room. Her cold hand rested on my shoulder and guided me from the large oak table.  
"Mother, who is she – who is this child?"Her voice was thick with confusion and frustration. I could feel the tears falling freely from my eyes as I clenched my fists and stared at the ground._

"_She's no one, Darling. One of the local Millers' children, I'll have her escorted off the grounds immediately." As the dining room doors had shut behind us, Cora's guidance turned into a more forceful shove as she took me into one of the sewing rooms. The door was slammed shut and Cora dropped to her knees, grabbing my chin and forcing my eyes to lock with hers._

"_Listen, Sweetheart. You want the best for your Mama, don't you?" I nodded, fat tears rolling down my cheeks with the sudden movement. "Good girl. Now, if you leave the kingdom and don't come back, do you know what your mama will become?" My head shook. "A queen, Harlow, your mummy will be a queen." She paused. "Will you let me take you away, to a new mummy and daddy so she will be happy?" I know I should have said yes, but at five years old it's in our genetic makeup to be selfish, to be attached; to be an obnoxious child who wants to hold onto our parents and never let go. So I did what any other five year old would do, and shook my head. Cora's demeanour immediately changed from a sickly sweet to an unconcealed hatred. Her painted lips pursed and her hairline pulled tight as she squeezed my shoulders rigidly. "Alright then. Just remember, you made this decision, not me."_

_-__**Once Upon a Time**__-_

The green 'Entering Storybrooke' sign flew past my window, sending my stomach into a flurry of butterflies. After over ten years of investigating tales and alleged accounts of magic, it had been one story from a little boy that I'd found on the internet which had led me here. The boy's name was Owen Flynn and he had started an internet blog in 2001 entitled 'Storybrooke, Maine'. I first found the Journal in 2002 when I was eleven years old (by this realm's years), and followed it all the way through to 2009 when it suddenly became inactive.

I knew that he had been talking about my mother the minute I read the description of her, well that, and the fact that she had used her real name. Can't say I was surprised though, from the whispers I had heard about the _Evil Queen _circulating through the Worlds, my mother had become a nasty piece of work.

I arrived in this realm in 1996 as a mentally mature five year old. My entrance was through a portal that opened up in London, England. I vividly remember being found wondering the streets by a young lady who took me back to her apartment and contacted the authorities. After the courts were unable to find any biological parent, living or deceased, I was slowly given an identity and put into foster care. Luckily for me, the first family I was situated with loved me so much that they decided to adopt me.

Elizabeth and Robert Fields were a lovely old couple. It took me a few months to open up to them, but when I did; it was like I had always been there. When evening fell, we would sit in front of the fire and I would tell them stories of home; of the kings and queens, the magic and the creatures and they would tell me stories of their own. The story of how they met was one that I would never forget. Robert had been a soldier in something they called 'The Malayan Emergency', and Elizabeth was a nurse. She'd met him when he was admitted into her infirmary after he'd covered his comrade from a stray grenade. I remember asking him why he didn't have it healed with magic, explaining to them that my grandmother knew a powerful dark sorcerer named Rumpelstiltskin who could cure the worst of ailments with just the wave of his hand. I never knew whether they'd actually believed my tales or not, but I didn't care; for that sliver of time in my life, I'd been truly happy.

Sadly, in late 2009 Robert and Elizabeth Fields both passed away, within a week of each other. They'd remained side by side right until the very end. I was sure that what I'd been able to be a part of, even if just for the smallest amount of time, had been True Love and I would miss them forever.

I let out a long sigh at the memories but smiled nonetheless as the wooden 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign came into view. It was only another two minute drive before I was in the middle of the small town. I slowed down and pulled my rusting truck into an empty car space near the front of 'Granny's diner'. Grabbing my wallet, phone and keys, I locked the car door and went inside. Immediately upon entering a tall, skinny brunette girl rushed towards me.

"Hi there," she exclaimed, "I'm Ruby. Haven't seen you before, are you new in town?" I could see the old lady behind the counter stealing weary glances whilst trying to converse with a customer.

"Just passing through, thought I'd stop in for some coffee, and maybe a snack." I could almost see the relief she felt at my statement.

She smiled and led me to a booth down the back of the busy diner; I had to ignore the stares I was receiving from the other patrons. "I'll start you off with a coffee; just give us a yell when you decide what you feel like ordering." I smiled thankfully and took my seat.  
As I added the cream and sugar to my coffee I listened to the idle chatter filling the room. One conversation interested me more than the others. It was being held between the elderly lady behind the counter and an abnormally short gentleman that had entered as I was seated.

"How's David coping without Mary Margaret?" The women asked quietly, no doubt worried about wandering ears, I could almost feel her looking in my direction. I continued to stir the steaming coffee innocently.

"Better than we would have expected, to be honest, I'm more worried about the kid. He really misses Emma."

"Well, we have our own situation here." She paused which I assumed was accompanied by a gesture towards me. "I hope for her sake she leaves before Regina finds out she's here."

"Hi." I almost jumped out of my skin when a voice sounded from opposite me in the booth.

"Jesus, kid! You almost gave me a heart attack." I exclaimed grabbing my chest. "What are you, some kind of ninja? I didn't even hear you sit down." A large brown book entitled 'Once Upon a Time' was dumped on the table in front of me.

"I know, that's because you were eavesdropping on Granny and Grumpy over there." He pointed to the couple at the bench. I had to admit, I was impressed with this kid.

"I can assure you that I don't know what you're talking about." I replied, barely containing a grin.

"Right." He retorted taking a sip of his hot cocoa, with cinnamon? "I'm Henry Mills, who're you?"

I smiled. "Nice to meet you Henry Mills, I'm Will Fields." That sentence was almost cringe-worthy to say aloud.

"No, I mean _who're you_ in the book?" I shot him a confused look, to which he let out a noise of frustration. "Look, everyone in Storybrooke is a character in this book right here." He lifted the book and gave it an odd shake. "So if you're here in Storybrooke that must mean you're in the book. People don't just come Storybrooke, and people don't leave." Henry had good intuition.

"I can tell you now, kid, that you won't find any trace of me in there." His head tilted slightly to the side as he shot me a look of confusion.

"C'mon, kiddo. We need to get back down to the mines before it starts to get too late." He looked towards me as if only suddenly realising that I was there.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm David." He said, giving a charming smile and offering his hand.

"Hi David, I'm Will." I replied taking his hand and giving it a slight shake. "Is Henry your son?" The signs of uncomfortableness crossed both of their faces and I realised awkwardly that I had probably stumbled into some sort of messy family situation. I quickly shook it off and side-stepped into safe conversational territory. "He surely does have an awesome imagination!" I turned to Henry who was looking mildly annoyed. "Who knows, you might write your own book one day."

Quickly grabbing a ten dollar note out of my wallet, I sat it underneath the now empty coffee cup in the middle of the table and stood up.

"It was fantastic meeting you both, but I really need to get going, have to be on the freeway in about an hour. Henry, make sure you take care of that book, it sure is a beauty." I gave a quick passing wave and 'thank you' to Ruby and walked out the door, the small chime of the bell seeing me off.

I briskly walked a few metres down the street until I reached my car. The passenger seat door gave me it's usual grief getting it open but finally complied with a load groan and opened all the way. I leaned into the car, sitting before me on the ripped leather seat was a big round box. I quickly manoeuvred the lid off and lifted out one of my most prized possessions: Robert's 1950's grey Homburg hat. My brow tightened into a frown, my fingers could now be seen through the large tear along the small brim. The diner door bell chimed once again and I turned to see David and Henry taking off down the road.

"Wait!" I yelled. "David!" He stopped walking and turned towards me. "I was hoping you might know someone who could help me fix this." He looked slightly confused. "It's my late father's hat, I've been looking everywhere for someone to help me fix it. I thought since I was here, it might not hurt to ask." He looked at me, then to the hat and finally back to me again.

"You mean like a hatter?" I could see Henry smiling from behind him.

**Hi guys! I've recently gotten re-obsessed with OUaT and couldn't contain my need to write. I wanted to clear up any confusion: Harlow is Willa's 'Enchanted name' and Willa Fields is the name the she was given when she arrived in London, which she now goes by. Just to reiterate, this is set mid-season 2 – Mary Margaret and Emma are still in the Enchanted Forest, but they will be back soon. I have basically until season 3 mapped out in my head, where Willa may or may not **_**return**_** to Neverland. I would also like to apologise for if Will sounds like a Mary-Sue at all so far, you really need to hear more of her story to realise that there is so much more to her character – and yes, I have seen some absolute horror 'Regina's daughter' stories, but I am hoping to break that mould with this one. Also, for another apology, I am really terrible at updating. Hopefully I shouldn't be too bad with this story, but there is just so much OUaT in my head and not enough words to get it all down on paper. So if you decide to stick with my story, I give you a thousand thanks! Please leave a favourite and Review if you have the time/can be bothered; if not, that's okay, just have fun reading! Oh, and Will's face claim is Eleanor Tomlinson!**


	3. Chapter Two

_One of my more vivid memories was after Cora had imprisoned me away in a small guarded cottage under 'preventative confinement' as she called it. The cottage was small and dilapidated, hidden away from any form of society by the thick trees of the surrounding forest. The six house guards were under strict orders to bring me three small meals a day, no more, no less._

_It had been dark for what I could only assume was hours and no one had come to give me food in days. After burning myself several times trying to light a candle, I had climbed onto the table in the kitchen, reaching into the tall cupboards in hope of finding some form of scraps or even a dead rodent; anything to ease the hunger cramps in my stomach._

"_Careful, Dearie, you wouldn't want to fall." I had turned so fast that I had almost lost my footing. That would have been ironic. With a wave of the stranger's hand, the room was illuminated with the light of a hundred candles. I couldn't remember his face just his scaly skin and a dank smell that seemed to accompany his presence. He had been sitting arrogantly on wooden bench with his legs crossed and his hands clasped in his lap. _

_Morbid juvenile curiosity had immediately filled me. "Who are you, sir?" I asked, trying my hardest to remember my manners; my mother had been raising me to be a lady._

_He let out a small cackle as he slid off his seat and strode over to me, his movements fluid, almost like a dance. "That – is not important." He had lifted me under the arms and sat me gently on the floor. "What is important is," he paused, "you're hungry."I remember thinking that he had a funny voice._

_I had nodded. "The guards stopped bringing me food."_

"_Well." He waved his hands. "That's because they're dead."The curiosity left my body and was replaced immediately by something else, fear? No … Excitement._

"_Should we send for someone?"_

"_Now, now, no, no we shouldn't," He pulled a chair up to the table, "they were bad men; but I'm not, I'm here to help you."_

_I sat in the chair. "How?"The curiosity was back._

_His following grin was almost wicked as he waved his hand in the air and brought it towards me. A clear bean sat perfectly in his sallow skin. "This, Dearie, is a magic bean. If you wish for any food while eating the bean, it is sure to appear."Looking back, if I had have known what it was, I never would have eaten it. But being a starving five year old who didn't know any better, I'd snatched the bean from his hand and put it in my mouth faster than he could have even considered retracting his offer. "Close your eyes and think of anything in the world you'd like to eat." I closed my eyes and thought as hard as I could about all foods, sweet and savoury, tart and sour. Instantly after I swallowed the tasteless bean, a buffet of scents wafted into the room. _

_Surprisingly, the bean didn't make me feel any different, and at the time I hadn't even questioned why I had just eaten the bean or what sort of magic it really possessed. To this day, I still don't know why it didn't rip my stomach open into a portal or cause my whole body to concave into itself to form some endless black-hole, it just didn't._

_When I opened my eyes to see a large roast goose on the table, I hadn't wasted any time leaning onto the table and tearing into the bird like a Neanderthal, choking out apologies to my guest. He simply let out a tutting sound as he returned me to my seat, materialised a cloth out of thin air and tucked it into the front of my brown tunic. What he was giggling to himself about while he carved the poultry was a mystery to me and I didn't dare ask, I just kept my blue eyes trained on the meat to make sure it didn't disappear._

"_There." He remarked as he put a few large pieces of bird onto my plate, after that he sat quietly and watched me eat my meal, much to my discomfort. _

"_Mister, why are you staring? My mother tells me that it's rude to stare at people."He seemed slightly annoyed at my question._

"_Well your Mother's not here to tell me off now, is she?" I felt my mouth freeze mid-chew as my stomach dropped. My lower lip began to tremble as I fought to keep the tears from falling from my eyes._

"_Sir," His head turned slowly to face me. "I want to go home, to my mother and father." _

_He startled me as he leapt from his chair and danced around the table to grab the chair behind me, pulling it out. "Well, I'm not stopping you and those dead guards out there surely aren't stopping you. So what is?"I considered what he was saying for a minute before promptly dropping my head._

"_My grandmother said that if I stay away, mama will become queen and be happy. I want her to be happy." The tears dribbled out easily as my head tilted lower._

_A scaly finger lifted my chin so I could meet the eyes that have been lost to my memory. "I can't think of anything that would make a parent happier than to be with their child."As soon as those words left his mouth, he had vanished into a wisp of purple smoke._

_He was right, I'd realised as I ran as quickly as my small legs could take me towards our property. It was dark and my only guiding light was the full moon above, illuminating my path. It didn't occur to me until years later that the man that I had so foolishly trusted had led me straight into a trap. I had gotten close enough to our home that I was able to see the candlelight dancing on the sills of the windows before I was stopped. A hand had shot out from behind a tree and grabbed my arm and its pair had smothered my mouth before I was able to scream for mother or father. _

_From then on I had been dragged further and further into the forest until I could no longer see anything but trees or hear anything other than crickets. Roughly I was dropped to the ground but quickly picked myself up and backed up to a tree, keeping my eye on the man._

"_Who are you? What do you want?" I'd screamed, my tone borderline manic._

_He took the large top hat off of his head and held it against the cravat on his chest. "No need to shout." His voice was as smooth as silk. "My name is Jefferson and I am here on request." Jefferson's back turned to me as he placed the hat on the ground and span it quickly. I watched on in awe as the ground seemed to bottom out from underneath it and turn into a giant swirling vortex. He turned to face me and with one last overconfident grin, grabbed me by the shoulder and roughly threw me in. _

_I let out a scream of pain as the front of my body slapped onto the floor of a room surrounded by dozens of unique doors. My arm was roughly taken as I was wrenched up and dragged through a mirror-like entrance. Instantly, the surroundings melted away into a beautiful world full of tall green grass and red toadstools. Tables were lined all around the fields and both adults and children were heavily populating the area. It was a tea party._

_Jefferson shoved me to the ground. "Your grandmother told me to tell you 'Goodbye'." _

_I'm not sure exactly what came out of my mouth as I begged him not to leave me, but he simply ignored me and turned to grab a young boy running past. "Enjoy Wonderland." His voice was snide as he grinned carelessly and dragged the protesting boy through the door._

_-__**Once Upon a Time**__-_

Jeez, this David guy must be thick; I don't think I could have been much more transparent if I had have just come straight out and asked him if he knew the Mad Hatter.

I re-read the scrawled directions and took a left into the woods. Immediately after turning I arrived at the driveway of a large white mansion.

"I assume this is it." The car gave a noise of protest as I drove into the front yard and parked. I grabbed my bag and opened the side pocket; sun rays glinted off the razer-sharp edge of the knife that was stashed. I took it out and slid it into the hip of my stone-wash jeans, being sure to pull my shirt over the top. The hat box was carefully picked up as I juggled it with my keys while I locked the car and walked to the door. I'd knocked three times when he answered. I had to resist the urge to shiver; he didn't look a day older than he did when he dropped me in that horrid realm.

"Can I help you?" His voice was low and smooth.

"Uh, hi. Are you Jefferson by any chance?" I asked, feigning a high, innocent voice.

His brows lowered slightly in confusion. "Who wants to know?"

I fumbled slightly with the hat box and quickly offered my hand to him. "My name's Willa. I've been told that you are able to repair hats." He left my hand awkwardly sticking out, forcing me to retract it.

"Sorry, I'm not in that business anymore." He made to shut the door but I stuck my foot in, effectively wedging it open.

"Please sir! It was my father's; It's all I have left of him."

He let out a sigh of impatience, but widened the door. "Alright. I suppose I can make an exception." I let out a few 'thankyous' and followed him in. "Grace!" He shouted. I froze and my blood ran cold as a young girl's voice answered.

"Yes Daddy?"

"I need to help this young lady with her hat. Don't let my tea go cold; I'll only be a few minutes."

"Okay, Daddy."

I followed Jefferson down the long corridor to the room at the end. He opened the door and held it while gesturing for me to enter. I walked into the room and was immediately awe-struck by the amount of identical (yet strangely, different) top hats scattered around the room.

"May I?" He asked gesturing to the box in my hands. I nodded and handed it to him. The hat was removed from the box and taken carefully to his work bench that was covered with fabric sheers, pins and of course, more top hats. I followed him around and listened as he muttered to himself whilst picking at the frays in the brim.

"You don't remember me, do you?" I asked – every trace of false falsetto tone gone from my voice.

"Have we met before?" Before he could turn to face me I was on him, pushing him back towards the wall with my knife against his Carotid Artery.

"Funny, I didn't think you would be able to forget fucking up someone's life so easily – especially a child's." I leaned into him slightly, nicking the skin with the knife and watching as the blood ran to the surface.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing dangerously close to the blade.

"Oh really, you don't remember? Maybe this will jog your memory." I leaned right in to his ear, keeping the edge right on point. "'Enjoy Wonderland.'" I quoted him in a whisper. As I pulled back, I could see painful recognition in his eyes.

"That was you?" He asked quietly. "I always wondered what happened to you. When I got stuck in Wonderland myself, I tried to find you…" I re-applied the pressure to his throat and he pushed himself further against the wall, squeezing his eyes tight. "Look, I know that no apology that I give you could ever make up for what I did, but please, I don't care what you do to me, just don't hurt my Grace." I bit the inside of my cheek, hard. Looking at his pained face made me feel nothing but pity, so I pulled away.

"Despite what you think, I won't be the one to take you away from your daughter." There was a pause. "I got my revenge on you a long time ago." I slipped the knife back into the side of my jeans and looked back to Jefferson. His face was riddled with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"When you got imprisoned in Wonderland by the Evil Queen, you left behind what I like to call 'Portal Residue' – traces of portal magic that was left behind after it was closed. Basically, I was able to use the residue to open a new portal and escape Wonderland." I picked up one of the hats casually, running my finger around the brim, collecting the light sheen of dust that had accumulated. "I had more than enough to take you with me, but instead I decided to leave you there." I watched as a mix of sorrow and rage crossed his face.

"You – you left me there? That whole time I could have been with Grace, and then the curse and…" He trailed off and I could see the pain he was feeling as he held the tears in. "Grace didn't have to be alone?"

"Now you know the pain that I felt, be thankful that you didn't have that knowledge while it was happening and that now you can go and be with your daughter." I didn't tell him that he was lucky he didn't follow me through the portal, because I ended up somewhere much worse than Wonderland.

I carefully put the Homburg hat back into its box and lifted it up. "One more thing, I'm looking for someone by the name of Rumpelstiltskin, do you know if I can find him in this realm?"

He inhaled sharply and lifted his head; all traces of pain were gone. "He goes by Mr. Gold here."

_-__**Once Upon a Time**__-_

It was pushing on six o'clock now, the sun was just starting to set and the last thing that I expected to see was lights shining through the windows of 'Mr. Gold: Pawnbroker and Antiques Dealer'. The door was closed, but the sign still said 'Open', so I gave a small knock and walked in. As I walked further into the shop, I couldn't help but notice all the things that were so obviously from the Enchanted Forest, including one very familiar-looking, scraggily teddy bear.

"I've been expecting you." I almost jumped at the thickly accented voice but remained stony. I span around, turning away from the bear to face the man. He wasn't at all what I was expecting; after all of the terrible tales that I had heard about the _Dark One_ I wasn't expecting someone so … frail. He stood with an air of authority with his hands resting on his cane and a lazy grin that made me want to wipe it off his face.

"Rumplestiltskin." I addressed him.

"That's me, Dearie." Hang on, what did he just say?

Suddenly, it hit me full force, I froze and my blood ran cold.

"Y-you, that was you?" Ironically, I now know how Jefferson had felt only a short time ago. The initial shock was slowly dissipating and morphing into anger. "You piece of shit."

He let out a small humourless laugh. "Now, now, no need for that sort of language." He chided. "I've been waiting for you for a while now. It's nearly time–"

I cut him off. "What the fuck makes you think that I'd do anything for you?" He let out a forced breath which told me his patience was beginning to run thin. It was silent for a moment; the only sound that could be heard was his cane knocking against the hard wood floor as he walked to the door to flip the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed'.

"I'm sure you've realised by now that when we met all those years ago, I fully intended for you to be captured by the Hatter; in fact, I was the one who instructed him to take you to Wonderland." I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I held back the urge to slit Rumpelstiltskin's throat. "I made a deal with your Grandmother to rid of you by any means necessary, and in return I requested she acquire me a single magic bean." My interest piqued at this. Of course I remembered the bean; it was how I was able to jump through worlds, and how I ultimately ended up here.

"How did you know that eating the bean wouldn't kill me?"

He raised a single finger as if to shush me. "Years before you were even born, I was granted the power of future sight by a young seer. One of the first clear visions I was able to make out was your birth, and slowly after that, pieces began to fit together and I was able to see to this point," he pointed to the cuckoo clock on the wall, "about ten minutes ago."

"So, you, making the deal with Cora, were able to attain a magic bean, which you were able to feed to me and send me to Wonderland, thus holding up your end of the bargain because you knew with the powers the bean would grant me I would be able to eventually make it back to this point in time and everything would stay on course."

He grinned. "Very good. You're a lot smarter than I would have given you credit for."

"Is that why you created the vanishing curse for Cora then?" His face dropped to a blank expression.

"And how, may I ask, did you know about that?" His voice was low and monotone.

"I'm no idiot, Rumpelstiltskin; I've had years upon years to work it out. My grandmother would not have been able to create something like that herself. After hearing the whispers of the _Dark One _going around, and the fact that he himself made the Dark Curse in a bargain for my mother, I began to ponder. As far as I know, I'm the only person who has had the Vanishing Curse put on them, and after hearing about the Dark Curse, I could only assume that, like that, the Vanishing Curse was a newborn spell. My grandmother may be a skilled sorceress, but she's no _Dark One_, she doesn't have the sort of power to create a new curse." I'll say this: Mr. Gold had an excellent poker face. I walked behind the side counter and plucked the small teddy out of the glass cabinet. "I assume this was an ingredient in concocting the curse?"

He nodded. "Your prized possession."

"Am I right in saying that this bear still technically belongs to me?"

He nodded again. "Yes, I suppose you are."

I sat the teddy bear onto the counter and locked eyes with him. "Then would you like to make a deal?" He looked intrigued. "You get to keep this." I shook the bear. "And in return, you give me some information."

He slowly limped over to me, his cane making the same loud knock as before as he plucked the bear from my hands. "Deal." He picked some imaginary dust off of the bear's head. "What do you want to know?"

I let out a silent sigh of relief. "Is Cora still alive?"

"Yes."

"Is she in this world?"

"No, she's in the Enchanted Forest."

"How did she leave Wonderland?" It hadn't even occurred to me earlier to question how Jefferson had left either.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that." I let out a frustrated breath but accepted the fact that I would have to find it out by other means.

"So you say that I am to help you with something that was put into motion long before I was born. What is it?"

He hesitated, his mouth making a small twitch as he silently mulled over whether to tell me or not, but a deal's a deal.

"You're going to help rescue someone precious to me," there was a long pause, "from Neverland."

A ragged, humourless laugh rang from deep in my chest. "Well, obviously your vision is wrong. You of all people, as the fucking fortune teller, should know: I would never go back there – not even if my life depended on it."

"The future doesn't lie, Dearie." The rage nearly exploded from me as I geared up to yell obscenities at him but I was cut off by the tinkling of the shop bell.

"I'm back, Rumpel." A young girl shouted, not looking up as she read what looked to be a shopping list in her hand. She rearranged the basket in her hand before shutting the door and turning towards us. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed in a panic. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." The pretty brunette gave a small bow of her head and scampered behind the counter, sitting the basket of groceries down.

"No, not at all. Belle, this is an old friend of mine: Harlow."

I walked towards her and held out my hand. "Actually, my name's Will." I said icily, taking her hand and shaking it. "And I'm not his friend."

A breath that slightly resembled a laugh left his mouth. "It's funny, just now, you reminded me of your mother."

I stopped mid-step. "You know, Rumpelstiltskin, Baelfire was right – you are a bastard." I heard Belle gasp loudly and I swear I felt the room temperature drop slightly. "I guess I'll have to find out if you're also a coward like he said." And I walked out of the store without looking back.

**Phew! Long chapter.**

**Hey guys, what's up? I think this is the quickest time that I've been able to smash out a chapter of this length. Whenever I'm not at work, I am writing to keep you guys happy. :) I need to point out that I am not keeping Once Upon a Time in Wonderland canon. IT NEVER HAPPENED. xD**

**Sorry if my punctuation is terrible, I am well educated in English I just could never **_**get **_**punctuation for some reason. **

**I can't wait for next week's OUaT! I have to say that Peter Pan is fast becoming my favourite character. How can someone be so evil, yet so loveable?**

**I would also like to say that I am very grateful to see how many people are reading and following 'Lost Girl' but I would really love some reviews, just to see how people are enjoying it, and what they think of Will. :)**

**Please if you have time, drop a review; if not, it's okay, I understand. Thank you for reading, you guys are what keep me going. :)**

**Until next time.**

**-Britt**


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